Sunday, December 18, 2005

Dig My Grecca?

Another day, another dollar, another Benedictine fashion statement.

No, the Pope is not wearing a First Communion suit with his zucchetto. As many of you know, Rome can get chilly in December. And so, riding to his first pastoral visit at Santa Maria Consolatrice, which was once Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's titular church, Benedict XVI pulled another warming object from the papal mothballs -- the "grecca," also known as the "douilette"; in layman's terms, a double-breasted white overcoat. John Paul wore it only when he had to, which was extremely rarely.

AP reported this morning that Big Daddy sounded a bit hoarse in his homily at the church, but I listened to the Angelus, and mysteriously he sounded fine.... Ricola?

"You should bring joy [for Christmas], not expensive gifts that cost time and money," Benedict said in a homily which he delivered without notes for about 15 minutes....

He also proposed joy as an antidote to the ills of society.

"In today's world, God is absent," Benedict said. "People need anesthesia to live. They live in a dark world."

Benedict said joy liberates people.

"With a smile, an act of kindness, a little help, forgiveness, you can bring joy, and that joy will come back to you," the pope said.

About Me

One of global Catholicism's most prominent chroniclers, Rocco Palmo has held court as the "Church Whisperer" since 2004, when the pages you're reading were launched with an audience of three, grown since by nothing but word of mouth, and kept alive throughout solely by means of reader support.

A former US correspondent for the London-based international Catholic weekly The Tablet, he's been a church analyst for The New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NBC, CNN and NPR among other mainstream print and broadcast outlets worldwide.

A native of Philadelphia, Rocco Palmo attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 2010, he received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis.

In 2011, Palmo co-chaired the first Vatican conference on social media, convened by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications. By appointment of Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap., he's likewise served on the first-ever Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese, whose Church remains his home.